Bizarre title don't you think?! I will go on to explain! Anyway I won't bother you with the history and the ethics behind Ryanair (see cujimmy's excellent opinion for a run down). I have only used this airline once and this opinion details my experience. I needed a relatively inexpensive flight to Aarhus in Denmark, on the cheap because my research budget was paying (and anyone who works in education will know how tight things are!).
Booking ------- I tried desperately many times, over the course of several days to use their online booking service. I entered all the information required, including my credit card details etc. but it continually came up that their server was busy and would I try again later. This was a little frustrating as each time, I had to enter the information again.
Anyway, this went on for several
days. In the end I telephoned their sales office and tried to book over the telephone. This also took quite a while (their server was down again!) so I also tried to book online at the same time! A word of warning here....even though it didn't register online - the chap at the other end of the phone suddenly piped up that he had just received an online booking from me! I received no indication online that my flight had been booked! Anyway, we were told to pick up the tickets from check in at the airport.
The Price --------- £19 + taxes to Aarhus, £4.50 + taxes return to Stanstead! Wow! How do they charge so little. I spoke to others at the same conference who had travelled from all over the UK and their flights ranged from £150-£500!! Ok, we went out on a Saturday (which is always cheaper) but I couldn't even get the train from Norwich to London for this!
I have also seen reports in the news that Ryanair are soon going to be offering FREE flights, yes FREE flights!! Apparently they will be offering up to 10% of all their flights at no cost. I don't know exactly how this will work, whether you won't be able to be fussy over the destination or will have to camp outside the airport! Who knows....I will be watching this space for further details (just think, Paris for free!).
The Flight ----------
The flights were delayed by about 20 minutes both ways and each time I sat in the airport, they flashed up boarding notices and gate closing notices. This was a little strange as they weren't even wanting passengers to board the plane at the time. I even thought I had missed my flight when it came up gate closed and I saw a Ryanair plane taking off!
The flight, was extremely empty - only about 30 passengers on a Boeing 737, so it was quite comfortable for a budget airline! It was very similar to all of the package holiday flights that I had been on - nothing special. Now comes my title into play. Ok, I am fully aware of the risks of Foot & Mouth and how the British are currently treated like lepers abroad. I don't want to spread it (although I don’t come from an uninfected area) anymore than the next person. But did they really have to read out an announcement on board, saying that when we disembarked the plane could we use a nail brush and scrub under our fingernails!! Even the air hostess sniggered as she read it! I’ll leave you to think about that one!
As I have already mentioned, the flight was also delayed on the way back. I got onto the aircraft and everything seemed so rushed. The airhostesses skimmed through the safety notices and were practically running around the plane. I mean, they were only 20 minutes behind schedule! It was quite worrying seeing the crew that hassled (they in such a panic that they had forgotten to do something?!).
Anyway, they made up time (by finding an alternative route,...again, I wish they hadn't told me this...I started to imagine that they had chosen to share one!), and the total flight time was 1 hour 30 minutes (as opposed to 1 hour 45 minutes). This is where my opinion ends.
Conclusion ---------- I can't really complain at being charged £23.50 (+ taxes) for a return flight to Denmark. The staff were friendly enough and the flights weren't particularly busy so I had plenty of room. I will be particularly interested when they do bring out their free flights, firstly to see how they do it, and secondly to see if there are any catches! I would certainly fly with Ryanair again. I would like to see their online booking service sorted out, and next time I hope they drop the nailbrush bit and aren't quite so rushed!!
Finished reading your 5th page today..still loving all of your reviews..LL
anjib 31.08.2001 17:56
You didn't bump into Brian the Big Brother 2 winner did you, as this is the airline he works for. You certainly seem to travel around a lot.
xr2i16v 09.06.2001 02:33
I've never flown with them, but I live right next to Stansted Airport and I regularly see the state of some of the Ryanair fleet.....whenever we see a plane pouring crap out of the back, we know it's Ryanair! Although to be fair, they are updating all their old 737's with new generation -800 series. The original ones used to be old British Airways ones (work horses), who then sold them to Britannia (work horses again!) and then to Ryanair - I reckon they should have been scrapped! - all useless info but I wanted to share it with someone and you happened to be here mooooose!! Thanks Mike.
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May 20th, 2001
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